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2003-08-02 |
Michigami Puts Honda NSX to Second Row
1-2 for Celicas in GT 300 Class
No.38 au CERUMO SUPRA
The qualifying sessions for the "JAPAN SPECIAL GT CUP," the fifth round of the 2003 AUTOBACS JGTC, were held under cloudy skies with patches of blue on August 2 at Fuji International Speedway (Shizuoka Prefecture). The drivers of the 46 cars entered (GT500:18 and GT300:28) pushed their machines to the limit, giving an impressive displays of potential throughout the day. In the end, the cars that claimed forward positions for both classes in Round 4 found themselves at the front for Round 5 as well.
As many had expected, the Toyota Supras dominated lap time in the qualifying sessions. Tachikawa clocked a fine 1'24.188" in the No.38 Supra early on for the provisional pole, and second on the grid was Apicella in the No.37 car with a 1'24.299. "We were disappointed with the results of the previous race, but Takuya and I feel good about the car and tires this time around," commented the Italian driver after the sessions. Third fastest in the morning session was Tsuchiya in the No.36 Supra driven by Tsuchiya, was third fastest during the morning session. Running fourth was the No.1 Supra driven by Wakisaka, who put in a fast lap of 1'24.535" in spite of a heavy 90kg weight handicap. Hattori, in the No.35 Supra equipped with Dunlop tires, sat in a comfortable fifth with a 1'24.560", and Dufour in the No.25 car, sixth at 1'24.695".
The quickest Nissan driver was Motoyama in the No.23 Skyline GT-R, managing seventh with a lap time of 1'24.706". "I think the lap time I set this morning is good considering that we are running with a heavy 70kg weight." A total of nine cars jostled for pole, all within a second of each other! The fastest Honda was the No.18 NSX, with Michigami working his best to put in a 1'25.047" for ninth overall.
A number of cars improved on their morning times in the afternoon session. Impressive results were Treluyer in the No.12 car, Lyons in the No.22 Skyline and Michigami in the No.18 NSX, who has been fighting hard since the opening round to get the Honda competitive. He clocked a lap of 1'24.414", making him second fastest in the session. Krumm, in the No.23 Skyline, fought hard as well, but lost a right front wheel during his flying lap. He took the car back to the pit without serious damage and turned the wheel over to Motoyama, who then claimed the quickest lap time among the Nissan teams, fifth in the session, with a 1'24.818."
The fastest car in the afternoon was the No.38 Supra driven by Tachikawa, who again surpassed his morning best lap time, clocking a 1'24.090". The winner of all three poles at Fuji this year, Tachikawa commented, "The feeling of the car was better than that during the last race. I went out onto the track thinking that I would take the pole, nothing else. And now here I am. I hope to be back here again (press conference room) tomorrow after the race."
Hironori Takeuchi added, "We changed dampers, which eliminated the setup gap between Tachikawa and me. So the feeling is better than the last three races held here at Fuji. For Tachikawa, as well, it is good because he got the pole."
Michigami and Philippe finished the day with the No.18 Honda NSX third on the grid. "I tried hard," said Michigami after the sessions. "We revised the down force and ride height of the car, eliminating the nervous feeling in the rear. Since Sebastien and I are now able to lap consistently in the 1'26s, I think the race configuration is not so bad."
No.19 WedsSport CELICA
It was a good day for Celicas, the two Toyotas giving fantastic performances immediately after the green light for the morning session. Aoki put in the best lap time in the No.19 car, timing a 1'31.524", followed by the No.71 Celica in its debut with a lap of 1'31.748" by Sawa. The only real difference between the two cars is the tires: Yokohama on the No.19 car and Dunlop on the No.71 Celica. Hoshino was third fastest in the No.81 Silvia with a lap of 1'32.160", while Suga sat fourth in the No.9 Mosler (1'32.284").
Improvements in times in the afternoon were few, the most important being Hoshino putting the No.81 car into second row on the grid after whipping around the circuit in 1'32.020". Mifune also impressed with the fourth fastest time of the session. But the 1'32.708" time was only good enough to raise position from 15th to 12th in the combined results.
The No.19 Celica was quickest in the afternoon session as well, with a lap time of 1'31.976", ensuring the pole to Aoki and Tanaka. Takayuki Aoki commented afterward, "We claimed a lap time that was quicker than the previous pole time (I set) in warmer conditions for the last race. So I think it's safe to say that the car is improving little by little. We used different tires this time, which helped us to set a good lap time."
Minoru Tanaka commented, "As there is another Celica this round, Aoki was very motivated to take the pole. So we changed the car set-up to fit him. We missed the victory last race, so we want to win this race."
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